"London transportation officials plan to temporarily take over the running of Metronet Rail, the London Underground's largest contractor, and fire top executives because of the company's cash shortage, said Mayor Ken Livingstone.

"`We have spent months preparing for this,'' the mayor said at a news conference today. ``There will be an awful lot of people at the top who will go.''

"Metronet Rail, which signed a 30-year contract in 2003 to upgrade two-thirds of the railroad, has run up extra costs on the project and its banks froze access to loans. An arbiter yesterday awarded the company less than a quarter of the emergency funding it had sought.

"Metronet's difficulties have threatened the biggest investment since World War II in the 144-year-old railroad. The London Underground carried a record 1 billion passengers last year. Livingstone said Transport for London, which operates the railway, aims to run Metronet's projects more effectively."
[Bloomberg]

Transport Briefing also carries an excellent timeline of Metronet's involvement with the Tube.

"Guidance published today [by the Department for Transport] will allow TfL to better integrate London's inner
suburban rail network with the rest of the capital's transport system.

"The guidance explains the role of TfL in the rail franchise process and,
following a consultation last year, allows TfL to propose and pay for extra
train services and station improvements on certain 'inner suburban' routes
that extend just beyond the Greater London Authority boundary.

"When proposing service or station changes TfL will have to consult local
transport authorities in the affected areas beyond the boundary, as well as
Regional Assemblies and London TravelWatch. Were TfL to seek any reductions to
service levels, the governance arrangements are stronger. TfL would require
the agreement of affected local transport authorities."
[from PR Newswire]

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